Volunteers Transform Glenfair Elementary on Comcast Cares Day

On April 25, over 350 volunteers applied a formidable amount of elbow grease to dozens of projects at Glenfair Elementary, one of 11 elementary schools in the Reynolds School District. At the end of the day, Glenfair had a new jogging path, eleven garden beds, black top murals, fresh paint, and every single classroom was cleaned and shined.

The event was part of Comcast Cares Day, a nationwide event that takes place each April during National Volunteer Month and is the largest single-day corporate volunteer effort in the country. Locally, more than 2,000 people in our region worked on projects ranging from landscaping to veterans outreach, with the largest project taking place at Glenfair. Comcast, a Cornerstone Parter of United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, worked with United Way's Hands On Greater Portland team to organize the event.

Glenfair is considered a high needs school, as over 96% of the student body qualifies for the National School Lunch Program. Currently 64 students, or 12% of the population, are categorized as homeless. Teachers also need to account for an extremely high student turnover rate; of 518 students, 303 were new to the school this year, and 234 withdrew.

“This project at Glenfair is a perfect example of how we can harness the caring power of people across multiple sectors – community members, corporations, nonprofits, and schools – to bring about the systemic change needed to improve the lives of kids and families living in poverty in our four counties,” said Keith Thomajan, President and CEO of United Way.

“All kids deserve to be in an environment that reflects how much we care about them,” added Becky Blumer, Director of Hands On Greater Portland.

Every year Comcast puts a call out to employees to nominate worthy projects, and this year Glenfair topped the list. Rebecca Brown, Community Relations Manager at Comcast, said that the school was chosen for the project because employees felt that they could create meaningful impact there.

“The transformation from the beginning of the morning to that afternoon was astounding,” Brown said.

Brown realized immediately after an initial site visit the school that it would be a great fit, in large part because the staff was passionate, eager and willing to help in any way possible.

John Dixon, Assistant Principal at Glenfair, says the response to the updates from students and teachers has been overwhelming.

“The amount of activity at recess has increased and students are finding amazing ways to interact with the new activities on the playground and with each other,” Dixon said.  

“Kids have said to me, ‘Mr. Dixon why did we get all this cool stuff?’ and I smile and tell them it is because they deserve it and that there a lot of people who care about them.  It is helping to make our kids feel special and valued in a world that often sends them the opposite message.” 

Dixon says that school staff, who are frequently faced with difficult situations and heartbreaking stories from the kids, have been energized by all of the positive changes.

“The running joke at Glenfair has long been that we are the school that time forgot. Now the talk is that we are the school that is so lucky to have such a wonderful program select us. The energy and enthusiasm this project brought is immeasurable and will continue to inspire us with a feeling of hope.”